The empty stage that stands before the audience as they wait for a show to start says a lot. We end up staring at it for the excruciating hour between doors and the beginning of the performance, price analyze the equipment and try to make predictions about what’s to come. We try to imagine the instruments being reconciled with their musician: what it’ll look and sound like, ampoule as if they are hints at what is coming next. Thursday night waiting for Jonathan Richman at the Middle East, we saw nothing waiting for us but a small drum kit, a guitar case, and maracas, and our minds became wild imagining the magic that would come from these sweet, small things.
Richman wasn’t afraid to bust out some audience favorites: one of his first songs was the well-loved track: “Summer Feeling”. It’s possible that he doesn’t get tired of these songs because seeing him live you realize he improvises a lot; the song songs as they are recorded serve more as a backbone that he works off of in a live performance. Richman seemed excited to be in Boston, a place he speaks about often in his songs. He told us stories of walking alone around Central Square and watching the sunset in Kenmore.
He celebrated our city’s quiet moments and rejoiced with the vibrant ones. Suddenly, we were all brought back to our own memories of wandering around by ourselves, feeling the heavy heartedness that Jonathan Richman so often vocalizes. But now we weren’t alone in our restless wanderings; it was as if through his songs, Richman was always there with us like an unseen guardian angel. We realized that he had been everywhere we are now, both physically in our city and mentally in the stage of our lives he sings about. He eloquently delivered a brief but powerful message of hope when he addressed the crowd and said “You know, I used to walk all around Boston when I lived here. I was 21 and I felt so old! Now I’m 64 and I don’t feel so old anymore.” I believe that at that moment, most of the audience shared a secret hope that they too could receive time the way Jonathan Richman has: as a gift that provides clarity.
Seeing Jonathan Richman live doesn’t just evoke self-reflection, it’s also a time to recognize the joy and silliness that exists in everyday life. Songs like “Lesbian Bar” serve as hymns celebrating the excitement and freedom of something as simple as finding the right nightclub to dance in. Finally, Richman picked up the maracas we had all been eyeing before he took the stage. He placed his guitar down for a spell and let himself shake and sing like he was experiencing the transcendence of dance for the very first time. It was hard to take my eyes off Richman. He’s so delightful that I didn’t want to miss a moment of his presence in hopes that I could somehow learn from it, but when I took a second to look at the crowd I noticed something. Everyone was smiling. There was no space for animosity in the room. The grudges, anxieties and resentments we all carry around were squeezed out by the bliss of Richman’s songs about painters, dancing, love and lack thereof. In this moment, maracas and nylon guitars were the only instruments needed to accompany Richman’s voice. Richman wasn’t afraid to abandon English and sing in different languages, although many of us perhaps couldn’t decipher every lyric. It was as if he assumed that the cadence with which he speaks and plays would be enough to deliver his point- and it was.
“Not So Much As To Be Loved As To Love” seemed to sum up the evening very neatly. Taking a break from his more rock-y songs, Richman took a moment to tell a story of a man searching for happiness who believes that what he needs is to be loved by another person, only to realize that what he really needed to be happy was to love someone. If you can, take a moment to think about this message outside of the context of romance. Think about kindness and joy. It seems to me that as much as this song is a wonderful ode to love, it also reminds us that we can transform ourselves by choosing to embody what we think we need from the outside world. Richman is a man who surely has experienced radical ups and downs. He may often sing about the joy of small treasures and beauty in unexpected places, but none of us doubt that he has experienced times that felt absent of the joy he often projects. In some ways, his music calls us to let ourselves be the happiness and love that we need even when the world around us refuses to supply us with those comforts.
It’s no surprise that Richman sold out three nights in a row at the Middle East. The experience of his performance goes beyond what we expect from a concert. We left entirely satisfied, and I have no doubt that as the audience scattered and made their separate ways home, they all imagined Jonathan walking with them as he once did, and still does in his songs.
In case you missed out on the fun and wanna see what all the buzz is about, check out this classic video of Richman Performing “That Summer Feeling.”